System and method for determining the location and/or relative environment of a controlling device

ABSTRACT

A radio frequency connection between a controlling device and a one of a plurality of controllable appliances in an environment is used to determine when the controlling device is pointing more towards the one of the plurality of controllable appliances relative to remaining ones of the plurality of controllable appliances. When it is determined that the controlling device is pointing more towards the one of the plurality of controllable appliances relative to remaining ones of the plurality of controllable appliances, the controlling device automatically makes active a command codeset usable to transmit commands to command functional operations of the one of the plurality of controllable appliances.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No.16/809,281, filed on Mar. 4, 2020, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Various systems and methods for determining the location of acontrolling device within an environment and/or for determining thecontrollable appliances that are within the environment are known in theart. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,180,373 (“the '373 patent”), thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety,describes example systems that includes a controlling device (such as awireless, universal remote control), one or more location signalingdevices, and multiple control environments. Each control environmentincludes one or more home appliances operable by use of the controllingdevice and each control environment may be further segmented intocontrol zones.

While systems such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,180,373 performadequately when simple location based determinations are desired, a needexists for a more precise location based system.

SUMMARY

In accordance with this and additional needs and desires, the followinggenerally describes systems and methods for determining the locationand/or relative environment of a controlling device.

A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, propertiesand relationships of the subject systems and methods will be obtainedfrom the following detailed description and accompanying drawings whichset forth illustrative embodiments which are indicative of the variousways in which the principles of the systems and methods may be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the systems and methods describedhereinafter, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in thefollowing drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system employing a method fordetermining controlling device location;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of components of an exemplarycontrolling device; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of components of an exemplarylocation signaling device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the figures, a system and method is described fordetermining a location and/or an environment of a controlling devicewhere the environment of the controlling device may include one or morecontrollable appliances.

In one described, example system, a controlling device will auto-adaptto new situations that are inherently unknowable ahead of time, such aswhen a user moves the controlling device from a first location, within afirst environment having at least a first controllable appliance, to asecond location, within a second environment having at least a secondcontrollable appliance that is different in either make, model, or typefrom the first controllable appliance. In this example, the controllingdevice will auto-adapt to the new location and environment by utilizinga “Bluetooth” low energy (BLE) mesh network to find out whatcontrollable appliance(s) is within the new environment whereupon thecontrolling device may auto-populate a display with command userinterface elements for the located controllable appliance(s). As will beappreciated, an advantage of this system is that the controlling devicedoes not have to be pre-programmed with all possible environmentalscenarios. Rather, the controlling device can adapt the commands (thatare to be transmitted to the device(s) within the environment) and whatis presented in the display/user interface of the controlling device tothe options in the environment in which the controlling device islocated. Also, if a controllable appliance is moved or replaced withinan environment, the system may be used to ensure that the controllingdevice will continue to be operable to issue appropriate commands to thecontrollable appliances within the environment.

In a further described, example system, the controlling device isadapted to be a connection-less controlling device that will be usableto control one or multiple BLE devices at once without requiring a BLElink connection. For example, in a case where multiple BLE devices arepresent in an environment, a user can choose to control a particular BLEdevice by pointing the controlling device toward that particular BLEdevice. Since this controlling device will not need to maintain a BLElink, this example system can potentially reduce power consumption andthus increase battery life.

In a still further described, example system, a device within anenvironment, which is preferably a controllable device, comprises asecurity camera that can fit into a BLE mesh network. The securitycamera will be adapted to provide varying levels of still photos andvideos, depending on the bandwidth available to the system. The securitycamera may also be adapted to support other members of the BLE meshnetwork.

Turning now to FIG. 1, an example system generally includes acontrolling device 10 (e.g., a wireless, universal remote control) thatis adapted to communicate with one or more home appliances 12 via use ofsignals transmitted on a BLE mesh network and which may be furtheradapted to transmit command codes, via the BLE mesh network and/or viause of another communications channel, to control the operation of theone or more home appliances 12. By way of example only, the appliances12 can include, but are not limited to, televisions, VCRs, DVRs, DVDplayers, cable converter boxes, amplifiers, CD players, game consoles,home lighting, drapery, fans, HVAC systems, thermostats, personalcomputers, etc.

For use in communicating with (and possibly for transmitting commandcodes as desired) to one or more of the appliances 12, the controllingdevice 10 of the exemplary system may include, as needed for aparticular application, a processor 24 coupled to a memory device (suchas ROM memory 26, RAM memory 27, and a non-volatile memory 34), a keymatrix 28 (e.g., physical buttons, a touch screen display, or acombination thereof), an internal clock and timer 30, transmissioncircuit(s) 32, receiver circuit(s) 33, and/or transceiver circuit(s)(e.g., BLE and possibly IR and/or RF), a means 36 to provide feedback tothe user (e.g., LED, display, speaker, and/or the like), and a powersupply 38 as generally illustrated in FIG. 2. As will be understood bythose of skill in the art, the memory device may include executableinstructions that are intended to be executed by the processor 24 tocontrol the operation of the controlling device 10. In this manner, theprocessor 24 may be programmed to control the various electroniccomponents within the controlling device 10, e.g., to monitor the powersupply 38, to cause the transmission of signals, etc.

The non-volatile read/write memory 34, for example an EEPROM,battery-backed up RAM, Smart Card, memory stick, or the like, may beprovided to store setup data and parameters as necessary. It is to beadditionally understood that the memory devices may take the form of anytype of readable media, such as, for example, ROM, RAM, SRAM, FLASH,EEPROM, Smart Card, memory stick, a chip, a hard disk, a magnetic disk,and/or an optical disk. Still further, it will be appreciated that someof or all of the illustrated memory devices 26, 27, and 34 may bephysically incorporated within the same IC chip as the microprocessor 24(a so called “microcontroller”) and, as such, they are shown separatelyin FIG. 2 only for the sake of clarity.

To identify home appliances by type and make (and sometimes model) suchthat the controlling device 10 can be adapted to communicate with suchappliances 12 (and possibly to transmit recognizable command codes inthe format appropriate for such identified appliances 12), BLEcommunications can be used to facilitate the controlling device 10receiving from an appliance 12 appliance identifying data, such as aDevice ID Profile. Once such appliance identifying data is received fromthe controllable appliances 12, the controlling device 10 can set itselfup to control the operation of specific home appliances, e.g., topresent a user interface for accepting input to cause the controllingdevice 10 to transmit one or more commands to one or more of theappliances 12 using one or more protocols, such as IR, RF, BLE, etc,that will be recognized by an intended target appliance. As method forusing data to set-up/configure a controlling device are well-known, suchmethods need not be described in greater detail herein. Nevertheless,for additional information pertaining to controlling device setup, thereader may turn to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,959,810, 5,614,906, and 6,225,938,which patents are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.Meanwhile, a method for using appliance identifying data to link a userinterface for a virtual equivalent of a controllable appliance to anintended target appliance may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 9,632,665, thedisclosure of which is also incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

To cause the controlling device 10 to perform an action, the controllingdevice 10 is adapted to be responsive to events, such as a sensed userinteraction with the key matrix 28, receipt of a data or signaltransmission, etc. In response to an event, appropriate instructionswithin the memory 26 may be executed. For example, when a command key isactivated on the controlling device 10, the controlling device 10 mayretrieve a command code corresponding to the activated command key frommemory 26 and transmit the command code to a device in a formatrecognizable by the device. Similarly, when data is received from theBLE mesh network that is indicative of an appliance being added toand/or removed from an environment which includes the controlling device10, that is indicative of the controlling device 10 being introducedinto a new environment, etc., the controlling device 10 mayautomatically respond to such an event by configuring itself tocommunicate with the appliances within the environment as describedabove. Accordingly, the instructions within the memory 26 can be used tocause the transmission of command codes and/or data to the appliances 12and to perform local operations, e.g., location based features andfunctions, displaying information/data, favorite channel setup, macrobutton setup, function key relocation, etc. Examples of some of theselocal operations can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,481,256, 5,959,751,and 6,014,092, 6,225,938 and U.S. Application Serial Nos. 60/264,767,Ser. Nos. 09/905,423, 09/905,432, and 09/905,396, each of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

As discussed above, the controlling device 10 preferably includesprogramming such that the location of the controlling device may bedetermined by one or more signals received by the controlling device 10.Given a determination of location, controlling device 10 may furtherinclude programming whereby command sets (i.e., device command codesmapped to various buttons of key matrix 28), controlling device states,favorite channel lineups, user interfaces, and/or macro commands arerecalled from memory, made available from a home computer or Internetbased data source, and/or dynamically generated (based on location data)such that desired commands or functions are presented to a userautomatically. The methods for such automated command set recall and/orgeneration are described more fully in commonly assigned, co-pendingU.S. Provisional Application 60/517,283, entitled “Home ApplianceControl System and Methods in a Networked Environment,” the disclosureof which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Additionalextended control functions may be implemented in conjunction with thecurrent system and method, such as the ability to pause and resumeappliance states across multiple control environments or zones, which isdescribed more fully in commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. Application60/517,737, entitled “System And Method For Saving And Recalling StateData For Media And Home Appliances,” the disclosure of which is alsoincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

To facilitate the provisioning of the above-noted environment/applianceidentifying data to the controlling device 10, an exemplary system andmethod includes one or more BLE enabled signaling devices 14. Thesignaling device(s) 14 may be a device (e.g., 14 a) separate and apartfrom the appliances 12 or may be integrated (e.g., 14 b) into one ormore of the appliances 12 as is illustrated in FIG. 1. Signaling device14 may additionally be integrated with other extended function controldevices. In any of these cases, the signaling device 14 may include, asneeded for a particular application, a processor 50 coupled to a memorydevice (such as RAM memory 51, ROM memory 52, and/or non-volatileread/write memory 56), an internal clock and timer 53, receivercircuit(s) 54, transmission circuit(s) 55, and/or transceiver circuit(s)(e.g., BLE and IR and/or RF), a means 58 to provide feedback to the user(e.g., LED, display, speaker, and/or the like), a power supply 62, andcommunication means 64, (e.g., serial I/O port, Ethernet, 1394 firewire,wireless transceiver, etc.), as is generally illustrated in FIG. 3. Thecommunication means 64 may be used to connect each signaling device 14to a common home control unit (such as a control pod, server, HVAC,etc.) in order to enable communication and timing operations between allsignaling devices.

The memory device may include executable instructions that are intendedto be executed by the processor 50 to control the operation of thesignaling device 14. In this manner, the processor 50 may be programmedto control the various electronic components within the signaling device14, e.g., to monitor the power supply 62, to cause the transmission ofsignals to any further appliances, control devices etc. connectedthereto, to provide audio or visual prompts to a user, etc. Thenon-volatile read/write memory 56, for example an EEPROM, battery-backedup RAM, Smart Card, memory stick, or the like, may also be provided tostore setup data and parameters as necessary. While the memory 52 isillustrated and described as a ROM memory, memory 52 can also becomprised of any type of readable media, such as ROM, RAM, SRAM, FLASH,EEPROM, or the like. Preferably, the memory 56 is non-volatile orbattery-backed such that data is not required to be reloaded afterbattery changes. In addition, the memories 51, 52 and/or 56 may take theform of a chip, a hard disk, a magnetic disk, and/or an optical disk. Itwill also be appreciated that in cases where signaling device capabilityis integrated into an appliance, some or all of the functional elementsdescribed above in conjunction with FIG. 3 may be combined with similarelements already present in the appliance for other purposes.

For transmitting and receiving information between controlling device 10and the signaling device(s) 14 a— d (as shown in FIG. 1), communicationswill be exchanged via use of the BLE mesh network. While not required,communication may also be performed using an IR protocol such as XMP(described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/431,930)and/or a further RF protocol, such as RFID. All that is required is thatthe signaling device 14 be able to decipher a signal received directlyor indirectly from the controlling device 10 and/or that the controllingdevice 10 be able to decipher a signal received directly or indirectlyfrom the signaling device 14. At least the information received from asignaling device 14 b via use of the BLE mesh network is to be used todiscern the location or environment of controlling device 10.

More particularly, it is contemplated that the controlling device 10will support BLE, e.g., BLE 5.1, mesh networks and will utilize otherBLE mesh network devices 14 (e.g., temperature/humidity/light sensors,etc.) to determine its position. In this regard, angle of arrival(“AoA”) direction finding functionality, angle of departure (“AoD”)direction finding functionality, and received signal strength indicator(RSSI) functionality can be used to determine the controlling device 10position within a building. Once the position of the controlling device10 is known, for example with the position being triangulated from theangular information, then other functions within the building can becustomized for the user's preferences. Examples would be for the systemto use the location of the controlling device 10 to turn lights/music onand off as the user walks through the building, to unlock/lock doors,etc. To this end, the control signals could originate from thecontrolling device 10 itself or the location of the controlling device10 can be used as an input event at a further controlling device tocause the further controlling device to command an action.

To support such functionality, it will be appreciated that the deviceswithin the system are intended to communicate with each other will beprovisioned with any hardware and software needed to support AoA, AoD,and RSSI.

The AoA method is used to determine a position of a RF transmittingdevice, e.g., a device having a transmitting BLE transceiver. Thereceiving device samples data from the signal packets while switchingbetween each active antenna in an array. By doing so the receivingdevice detects the phase difference of the signal due to the differencein distance from each antenna in the array to the signal transmittingantenna. A positioning engine then uses the phase difference informationto determine the angle from which the signals were received and hencethe direction of the transmitting device relative to the receivingdevice.

In the AoD method, the device with the antenna array sends a signal viaeach of its antennas. As each signal from the antennas in the arrayarrives at the receiver's single antenna, it is phase shifted from theprevious signal due to the different distance the signal has travelledfrom the transmitter. The receiving device can then use the data todetermine the angle from which the signals were received and thereby thedirection of the transmitting device relative to the receiving device.

RSSI is an estimated measure of power level that a RF client device isreceiving from an access point or router. At larger distances, thesignal gets weaker and the wireless data rates get slower, leading to alower overall data throughput.

Within the described system, while it further contemplated that thecontrolling device 10 could auto-adapt to a new room by exchangingmessages with the other devices 14 that are nearby, e.g., to configurethe controlling device 12 to control one or more of the appliances 12(e.g., TV, DVD, dimmable lights, temperature control for that room,etc.) and to provide suitable user interfaces for this purpose asdesired, it will be understood that, by utilizing a combination ofAoA/AoD, and RSSI, the system can calculate the position of thecontrolling device 10 in the building with high accuracy whereupon thisinformation can be used for still further purposes.

By way of example, the controlling device 10 can use the preciselydetermined location of the controlling device 10 to adapt its display toonly show commands that match the device that the controlling device 10is pointing at, e.g., the controlling device 10 could bring up a menu toopen and close a shade when it is determined that the controlling device10 is pointing at a shade and change the display to lighting when it isdetermined that the controlling device 10 is pointing at a dimmablefixture.

For this purpose, the controlling device 10 can be programmed to sendnon-connectable advertising packets when it has data to send. Thedevices 14 would have to be using active scanning, and each device 14would send a Scan Request packet. If there is only one target device 14,then the controlling device 10 would send target control codes in theScan Response packet. If there were multiple target devices 14 sendingScan Response packets, then the controlling device 10 would use AoA toselect the target device 14 that had an AoA closest to 90° (asdetermined by an antenna that is arranged appropriately relative to thefront, pointing surface of the controlling device 10), which would meanthat the controlling device 10 was pointing at that target device 14.The controlling device 10 would then be programmed to send control codesto that device, e.g., a controllable TV, via a Scan Response packet. Thecontrolling device 10 may also cause a display of a user interfaceappropriate for the target device 14, e.g., a user interface havingicons representative of controllable functions of a controllable TV.

It is also contemplated that the controlling device 10 would need topair with the target devices 14 first. Once paired, the controllingdevice 10 can behave similar to conventional IR remotes by just simplysending the control codes without receiving an ACK or response from thetarget devices 14. To pair, the controlling device would sendnon-connectable advertising packets to let the target devices 14 knowthat it wants to pair/control them. The target devices 14 can useRSSI/AoA to determine advertising packets are intended for them and thentry to pair with the remote by memorizing the Bluetooth Device (BD)address of the controlling device 10. Standard BLE pairing can also workbut the controlling device/targets must disconnect a BLE link afterpaired. Once the target devices 14 memorize the BD address of thecontrolling device 10, the controlling device 14 can use eitheradvertising extension or non-connectable advertising messages to sendcontrol codes to the target devices 14. For a single target control,that target can just simply acts upon receiving control codes from thecontrolling device. For multiple targets control, the target devices 14would use AoA to determine that the control codes are intended for them,i.e., the controlling device 14 is being pointed at the intended targetdevice 14. For all on/off or broadcast control codes, the target devices14 would preferably not have to use AoA.

In these example, while custom user interfaces may be presented in adisplay of the controlling device 10 dependent upon the environment inwhich the controlling device 10 is located and/or dependent upon whichdevice 14 the controlling device 10 is determined to be pointing at, itis also preferred that other menu items that are not location specific(e.g., building security settings, building temperature) would be alwaysavailable for invocation on the controlling device 14. In addition, itis contemplated that, because the controlling device 10 and the systemwill know the location of the controlling device, the controlling device10 and/or the system can be further programmed to provide navigation forthe user. This would be useful for situations such as finding anemergency exit during an emergency, or in dark/smoky situations, findinga room at a large school/office/hospital, finding the location of a BLEsensor that needs a new battery, etc.

In the above systems, the controlling device 10 can be programmed toperiodically poll for devices 14, the devices 14 can periodicallyannounce their presence to the network, a network hub can periodicallypublish a device directory, or the like as desired to ensure that thecontrolling device 10 is, and continues to be, location and/orenvironment aware.

It will also be appreciated that the systems described herein could beadapted to locate the controlling device 10 within an environment byleveraging the BLE “Find Me” profile. In this scenario, the user wouldinitiate a scan for the controlling device 10 from a host device(already on a local network with other authenticated devices). Forexample, a user could scan/search for the controlling device 10 byinitiating the “Find Me” profile from a host device such as a TV or STBwithin an environment. The TV or STB would start to exchange messagesbetween all devices on the network to locate the remote controller 10,e.g., by using angle detection and triangulation as discussed above.

To assist the user in getting to the located controlling device 10, thedevices on this network would broadcast their proximity and direction inrelation to the lost remote controller. In this scenario, a TV couldindicate that its (1, 2, 3 feet . . . ) and (above/below/left/right) ofthe TV remote controller (peripheral). This information could becommunicated to a user via use of a speaker, a displayed map, or thelike. It is believed that this solution could be particularly useful inthe hospitality industry, since remotes can easily be misplaced in roomsby guests, the room cleaning staff, etc.

It is also to be appreciated that the described systems could be used tosynchronize and/or transfer content on location of the controllingdevice. For example, during initial setup/configuration of a whole homeAV system, the location of the various devices can be saved in acontrolling device profile. This information can then be utilized toenable content to follow the remote around the home. The user could bewatching a live event on the living room TV (via STB server), and as theuser and the controlling device 10 move to another room, the content canbe transferred to that AV system in the bedroom. As above, such a systemwould rely upon that the devices direction-finding messages/data. Thissystem need not be tied to video only, as it can also be used forwhole-home audio, or other commercial settings, e.g., in a museum a usercould use their BLE 5.1 equipped phone to get a customized experiencebased on their movement about the exhibits.

In a further example system, the BLE device 14 may be a BLE securitycamera that is adapted to support the sending of both high-resolutionphotos, and also video, using adaptive video compression. Preferably,the BLE security camera will transmit the photos or video when triggeredby motion or some other event (sound, vibration, heat, car approaching,etc.). For some situations, still photos would be sufficientinformation, while others would require video. For example, readinglicense plates at a remote security gate would only requirehigh-resolution still photos, while other situations would require videoto determine what triggered an alarm. Depending on the distance to thesecurity camera and other factors, there might not be sufficientbandwidth to send video, so the camera would send photos at the highestrate that the network supports. The security camera could initially sendlower resolution black and white photos, and then switch to higherresolution color photos that would take longer to process and transmit.The camera would take into account the speed available using the BLE 5.0PHY to send data at speeds that can vary from 125 Kbps to 2 Mbps.

With respect to the systems and methods have been described herein, itis understood that, unless otherwise stated to the contrary, one or morefunctions may be integrated in a single physical device or a softwaremodule in a software product, or one or more functions may beimplemented in separate physical devices or software modules, withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Ii willalso be appreciated that detailed discussion of the actualimplementation of each module is not necessary for an enablingunderstanding of the invention. The actual implementation is well withinthe routine skill of a programmer and system engineer, given thedisclosure herein of the system attributes, functionality, andinter-relationship of the various functional modules in the system. Aperson skilled in the art, applying ordinary skill can practice thepresent invention without undue experimentation. It will also beapparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications andimprovements may be made without departing from the scope and spirit ofthe invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention isnot to be limited by the specific illustrated embodiments.

All patents and applications for patent cited within this document arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for adapting a target controllableappliance in an environment to be controlled by a controlling device,comprising: receiving by the target controllable appliance a firstnon-connectable advertising packet transmitted by the controllingdevice; using a radio frequency connection between the targetcontrolling device and the controllable appliance on which the firstnon-connectable advertising packet was transmitted to determine that thecontrolling device is pointing more towards the target controllableappliance relative to remaining ones of a plurality of controllableappliances in the environment; and automatically causing the targetcontrollable appliance to pair itself with the controlling device whenit is determined that the controlling device is pointing more towardsthe target controllable appliance relative to remaining ones of aplurality of controllable appliances in the environment.
 2. The methodas recited in claim 1, further comprising, subsequent to being pairedwith the controlling device, receiving by the target controllableappliance a second non-connectable advertising packet transmitted by thecontrolling device; using the radio frequency connection between thecontrolling device and the target controllable appliance on which thesecond non-connectable advertising packet was transmitted to determinethat the controlling device is no longer pointing more towards thetarget controllable appliance relative to remaining ones of theplurality of controllable appliances in the environment; andautomatically causing the target controllable appliance to unpair itselfwith the controlling device when it is determined that the controllingdevice is no longer pointing more towards the target controllableappliance relative to remaining ones of a plurality of controllableappliances in the environment.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1,further comprising automatically causing the controlling device to makeactive a user interface usable for commanding functional operations ofthe target controllable appliances in connection with the targetcontrollable appliance being paired with the controlling device.
 4. Themethod as recited in claim 3, wherein the user interface is stored in amemory of the controlling device before the target controllableappliance is paired with the controlling device.
 5. The method asrecited in claim 3, wherein the user interface is retrieved from aremote data store by the controlling device in connection with thetarget controllable appliance being paired with the controlling device.6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein using a radio frequencyconnection between the controlling device and the target controllableappliance on which the first non-connectable advertising packet wastransmitted to determine that the controlling device is pointing moretowards the target controllable appliance relative to remaining ones ofa plurality of controllable appliances in the environment furthercomprises using an angle of arrival direction finding methodology. 7.The method as recited in claim 1, wherein using a radio frequencyconnection between the controlling device and the target controllableappliance on which the first non-connectable advertising packet wastransmitted to determine that the controlling device is pointing moretowards the target controllable appliance relative to remaining ones ofa plurality of controllable appliances in the environment furthercomprises using an angle of departure direction finding methodology. 8.The method as recited in claim, further comprising using a deviceidentifier received from the target controllable appliance to determinea user interface to make active on the controlling device.
 9. The methodas recited in claim 1, wherein the controlling device and the targetcontrollable appliance communicate via use of a radio frequency, meshnetwork.
 10. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by a targetcontrollable appliance in an environment to be controlled by acontrolling device, cause the target controllable appliance to performsteps comprising: receiving by the target controllable appliance a firstnon-connectable advertising packet transmitted by the controllingdevice; using a radio frequency connection between the controllingdevice and the target controllable appliance on which the firstnon-connectable advertising packet was transmitted to determine that thecontrolling device is pointing more towards the target controllableappliance relative to remaining ones of a plurality of controllableappliances in the environment; and automatically causing the targetcontrollable appliance to pair itself with the controlling device whenit is determined that the controlling device is pointing more towardsthe target controllable appliance relative to remaining ones of aplurality of controllable appliances in the environment.
 11. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable medium as recited in claim 10, whereinthe instructions cause the target controllable appliance to performfurther steps comprising, subsequent to being paired with thecontrolling device, receiving by the target controllable appliance asecond non-connectable advertising packet transmitted by the controllingdevice; using the radio frequency connection between the controllingdevice and the target controllable appliance on which the secondnon-connectable advertising packet was transmitted to determine that thecontrolling device is no longer pointing more towards the targetcontrollable appliance relative to remaining ones of the plurality ofcontrollable appliances in the environment; and automatically causingthe target controllable appliance to unpair itself with the controllingdevice when it is determined that the controlling device is no longerpointing more towards the target controllable appliance relative toremaining ones of a plurality of controllable appliances in theenvironment.
 12. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium as recitedin claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the target controllableappliance to perform further steps comprising providing to thecontrolling device data for automatically causing the controlling deviceto make active a user interface usable for commanding functionaloperations of the target controllable appliances in connection with thetarget controllable appliance being paired with the controlling device.13. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium as recited in claim 12,wherein the data comprises using a device identifier for the targetcontrollable appliance.
 14. The non-transitory, computer-readable mediumas recited in claim 10, wherein using a radio frequency connectionbetween the controlling device and the target controllable appliance onwhich the first non-connectable advertising packet was transmitted todetermine that the controlling device is pointing more towards thetarget controllable appliance relative to remaining ones of a pluralityof controllable appliances in the environment further comprises using anangle of arrival direction finding methodology.
 15. The non-transitory,computer-readable medium as recited in claim 10, wherein using a radiofrequency connection between the controlling device and the targetcontrollable appliance on which the first non-connectable advertisingpacket was transmitted to determine that the controlling device ispointing more towards the target controllable appliance relative toremaining ones of a plurality of controllable appliances in theenvironment further comprises using an angle of departure directionfinding methodology.
 16. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium asrecited in claim 10, wherein the controlling device and the targetcontrollable appliance communicate via use of a radio frequency, meshnetwork